The new Surface Go is here

Microsoft announced through a blog post on 9th of July a new member to its premium devices, a Surface Go.

As some of you may already know I am a fan of Surface devices and I have owned the very first Surface Pro in 2012 and Surface Pro 4.

I will reserve my thoughts on Surface Go for another post coming shortly. Surface Go essentially is very similar to its elder brother and more powerful, Surface Pro.

The main idea behind Surface Go is a thin, lightweight, easy to carry around device between rooms in your house, during travels or a decent performance and elegant looking device for students.

Do not expect a lot from this device from performance perspective. Apps like Photoshop, Adobe Premier, crunching large chunk of data on Excel or playing AAA games will not perform best on Surface Go. But of course, why would anyone buy Surface Go to do all of the above at first place?

If you are someone who mostly take notes, prepare homework on Word, PowerPoint, check emails, surf the internet, listen music and watch Netflix, then this device fits your bill.

The idea behind the design of Surface Go – our smallest, lightest, and most affordable Surface yet. When we designed this device, we had to ask ourselves what people want and need from a 10” Surface. The answers seem obvious – lightweight, productive, and accessible to more people. I’m pumped to introduce you to Surface Go, because it’s all those things, and so much more.

Surface Go comes with Windows 10 Home (S Mode) which can be switched to Windows 10 Home for free, with a 10 inch, 3:2 aspect ratio display. It also comes with a low powered, fan-less Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y processor, 4 or 8GB of RAM, 64GB (eMMC), 128GB and 256 SSD storage.

Additionally, the Go supports Surface Pen and type cover. Both sold separately. Microsoft claims it gives 9hour battery life, but that is something yet to be seen.

Surface devices have always been expensive and due to that a lot of people love the device but don’t buy it. For example, starting price for a 2017 Surface Pro for a core i5, 128GB and a 8GB RAM goes for $999 (discounted $799), a Surface Book 2 starting price for a Core i5, 256GB RAM goes for $1,499.

The Surface Go is a premium device from the build perspective with decent internals at a very good starting price at $399 or roughly Ksh41,000.

The add-on but a must have type cover keyboard Surface Go accessory comes in four beautiful colors, Platinum, Burgundy, Cobalt Blue and Black.

If you consider buying the entry level device, with a Surface Pen that costs $99 and a type cover for $129, everything will set you for $594 which is certainly not a bad deal for a premium looking device like Surface.

Though I would personally recommend to go for $549 for a 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM.

Microsoft in primarily targeting Field Sales Reps, students/education market, regular users with casual use cases and those who are looking for a lightweight, thin and easy to carry around device.

There is a lot more to talk about this device which I will be writing and posting later.